In recent years, vehicles and the field of automotive maintenance have experienced rapid growth in computerized systems both within automotive vehicles and in computerized diagnostic tools that identify maintenance issues with the vehicles. For example, most modern vehicles include one or more computer systems that are often referred to as an electronic control unit (ECU). In some vehicles, the ECU controls and monitors the operations of numerous systems including, but not limited to, the engine, steering, tires, transmission, brakes, fuel delivery or battery level monitoring, and climate control systems. Some vehicles also include numerous sensors that monitor various aspects of the operation of the vehicle. The ECU receives the sensor data and is configured to generate diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) if the sensors indicate that one or more systems in the vehicle may be failing or operating outside of predetermined parameters.
Many vehicles use a controller area network (CAN) vehicle bus to transmit data between the ECU and the onboard sensors, components, and systems in the vehicle. The CAN bus, or other equivalent data networks in a vehicle, provides a common communication framework between the ECU and the various sensors and systems in the vehicle. Additionally, the CAN bus or equivalent network enables communication between the ECU and external diagnostic tools through a port that is typically accessible from within a cabin of the vehicle near the driver's seat. The ECU and the diagnostic tools interfaced therewith often use an industry standard protocol, such as a version of the on-board diagnostics (OBD) protocol, including the OBD-II protocol.
The operation of an ECU controlled engine is influenced by many factors including variations in environmental conditions, such as the weather. The typical ECU, however, does not account for environmental variations, thereby resulting in an engine that may not be optimized for the conditions in which it is being operated. Accordingly, a need exists for a method and system to quickly and easily optimize ECU controlled engine settings so that optimum engine performance is achieved.